March 02, 2014

South Korea: H5N8 outbreaks continuing

Weeks have passed since Korea was first hit with a bird flu outbreak that has since led to the culling of millions of ducks and chickens.

The issue had dropped out of the headlines in recent days but concerns are mounting that quarantine efforts have failed to completely eradicate the virus.

Korea's agriculture ministry said Sunday that poultry are being culled at a farm owned by the National Institute of Animal Science in Korea's central South Chungcheongnam-do province, after a duck was confirmed to have died from the H5N8 strain of the virus.

This isn't the only case either, reports of another outbreak in Korea's southwestern South Jeollanam-do province led to the culling of 70-thousand birds.

The total number of birds culled from this year's outbreak now stands at over six-and-a-half million.

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Weeks have passed since Korea was first hit with a bird flu outbreak that has since led to the culling of millions of ducks and chickens.

The issue had dropped out of the headlines in recent days but concerns are mounting that quarantine efforts have failed to completely eradicate the virus.

Korea's agriculture ministry said Sunday that poultry are being culled at a farm owned by the National Institute of Animal Science in Korea's central South Chungcheongnam-do province, after a duck was confirmed to have died from the H5N8 strain of the virus.

This isn't the only case either, reports of another outbreak in Korea's southwestern South Jeollanam-do province led to the culling of 70-thousand birds.

The total number of birds culled from this year's outbreak now stands at over six-and-a-half million.